Europe Roundup: Real Madrid Extend Lead A Top La Liga

byDavidonNovember 6, 2011

The last weekend in Europe ahead of the international break saw Real Madrid extend their lead in La Liga while Udinese and Lazio took advantage of some Juventus’s match being postponed to move to the top of Serie A.

Spain
Real Madrid have a three-point lead at the top of the Liga table over Barcelona after Barca need a late goal from Lionel Messi to grab a point at Athletic Bilbao. Real Madrid put the pressure on by thrashing ten-man Osasuna 7-1 reverse as Cristiano Ronaldo scored his fourth hat-trick and Jose Mourinho’s side has now won their last 10 matches in all competitions. Meanwhile Valencia leapfrogged former leaders Levante into third by downing their high-flying neighbours 2-0.

EnglandManchester United marked the 25th anniversary of manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s appointment in fitting style by beating Sunderland 1-0 via an own goal from former United defender Wes Brown. Man City go into the international break with a five point lead a top the Premier League after beating Queens Park Rangers 3-2 thanks to Yaya Touré’s headed winner. Newcastle United remain in third place after beating Everton 2-1. Robin Van Persie picked up his 11th league goal this term in Arsenal’s 3-0 win against West Brom.

Germany
Mario Gomez continued his red-hot scoring streak as Bayern maintained their five-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga with a 2-1 win at Augsburg, the forward hitting his 13th league goal of the season. In second, Borussia Dortmund hammered Wolfsburg 5-1 with Arsenal target Mario Götze scoring twice. Also tied for second are Werder Bremen and Borussia Mönchengladbach after they both picked up wins this weekend.

Italy
Udinese and Lazio took advantage of some of Juventus’s match with Napoli being postponed to leapfrog the Bianconeri in the standings. Antonio Di Natale scored his eighth of the season as Udinese beat Siena 2-1 while Lazio squeezed past Parma 1-0 thanks to Giuseppe Sculli. AC Milan sit a point behind following a comfortable 4-0 home victory against Catania.

France
Paris Saint-Germain remain three points ahead of Montpellier in Ligue 1 after both sides were unable to win this weekend. Meanwhile Lyon lost ground on the leaders after losing 2-1 at Sochaux.